Queen Mary 2

The new, mammoth Queen Mary 2 cruise ship rolled into New York City this morning amidst much fanfare. The "QM2" is the largest, most expensive passenger ship ever made. They say that at high tide the QM2 would clear the Verrazano Narrows Bridge by a scant 13 feet.

Anywho, I got up bright and early to witness the spectacle-

Here we have the ship cruising up the Hudson escorted by a mini-armada of helicopters and various boats. You can kinda see the fireboat on the far right.

Cruising by the 30th St Heliport.

On the West Side of Manhattan, the trick is to find a spot in the chain link fence where you can gently jam in the lense of your camera for an unobstructed photo op.

The masses gather in anticipation at the Passenger Ship Terminal.

A few in the crowd requested law enforcement kindly move their vehicles. Request denied.

Strike up the band.

Notice the 20-foot chain link fence and elevated highway on the right, working well in tandem to deftly obstruct the view.

Overall quite a sight. And an adventure unto itself snapping a decent pict.

Remember this motto to live by: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO- HOO what a ride!'"

Excellent photos. Thanks for sharing. The total occupancy of the ship is probably greater than the population of 90% of the incorporated town in the U.S. I can only imagine seeing it with the naked eye. Kinda like the space ships in Independence Day.

Exceptional photos. Thanks for getting up early and taking Cyburbia virtually with you! Looks like the Port Authority ought to spend some money fixing up the pier (was that Pier 57?) -- that was not a particularly pretty sight. Cunard can't be too happy with that...

Queen Mary II is built as a liner, not a cruise ship and the difference really shows. If ever I win the lottery . . .

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.Abraham Lincoln

Maybe you guys all already know this, but it was named "Queen Mary 2" because it's the second ship to be named "Queen Mary." The "Queen Elizabeth II" was so named because it was named in honor of Queen Elizabeth II. So if it were to sink or something and they were to name another ship after her, I suppose it'd be the "Queen Elizabeth II 2"

Ah, a liner. Okay, got my water vernacular down Oh, and Cunard did name it with the "2"

2 bad for me :-0

Sorry if you thought I was correcting you about "liner" vs "cruise ship". I wasn't.

[naval architecture geek]The bow of a liner is noticeably different because they have to cut through rough seas (she was in 30' waves on this voyage), whereas a cruise ship has a much more blunt bow because they try to avoid rough seas. I read somewhere that the QM2 is designed to withstand a 75' sea.[/naval architecture geek]

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.Abraham Lincoln

Very awesome. Thanks for the pics. Ive never been on a big boat like that. Well, i take that back...Ive been on an aircraft carrier before and the WWI battleship "Texas." (sorry for the big pics)

USS Texas

USS Lexington (which has recently moved off of the beach and into the harbor in Corpus Christi)

Originally posted by Gedunker

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[naval architecture geek]The bow of a liner is noticeably different because they have to cut through rough seas (she was in 30' waves on this voyage), whereas a cruise ship has a much more blunt bow because they try to avoid rough seas. I read somewhere that the QM2 is designed to withstand a 75' sea.[/naval architecture geek]